


The Music of Orr

by StariWolfe



Category: Guild Wars 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Dorks in Love, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Mutual Pining, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, it's mostly just fluff ok, lots of music stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2020-03-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:41:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23175625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StariWolfe/pseuds/StariWolfe
Summary: Trahearne needs help with learning the music of Orr, and he calls upon his good friend Kori Mineo, a professional bard, to aid him.They say music brings people together...
Relationships: Trahearne (Guild Wars)/Original Character(s)
Kudos: 10





	The Music of Orr

“Excuse me, Kori, but may I trouble you for a moment?”

Kori started a bit, not expecting Trahearne’s voice to come from the doorway of her room. She looked up from her task of restringing her lute to see him leaning against the doorframe, regarding her coolly. Or, that’s how it seemed at first, but she thought she saw a bit of nervousness in his body language.

“You’re never troubling me, Trahearne, you know that.” She motioned him to sit beside her on the bed. “What’s on your mind?”

“Right, of course.” He walked across the room to join her, sitting on her left so that his good eye was facing her. “Well you see, you know how I am the foremost scholar on Orr, correct?”

“I had no idea.” Kori deadpanned at him. “It’s not like all you read are books about Orr or are a necromancer or-”

“Alright, I get the point.” He covered her mouth with his hand, an amused smile gracing his face. “Well, I found some old books and scrolls from nearby Arah, and I, well…” He stopped for a moment, removing his hand from her face to scratch the back of his neck. 

“Yes? What are they about?” She urged him on. He often came to talk with her about his research, but while the visit wasn’t unusual, the way he was acting was. He rarely got shy about his studies; what was with him now?

“Well, er, they’re about...music.” 

“Oh, I see!” Kori’s face lit up at this news. She loved learning about music from bygone ages, and she loved to listen to the songs from those times as well. “Do you need help deciphering anything? I may not be able to read Orrian, but I can read music! I hope I’ll be able to, anyway, who knows if they used the same format…”

“Well, I do need your help for that, it’s true, but there’s, uh, another favor I need to ask, as well.” He broke eye contact with her and looked in the opposite direction. “You see, well...oh, how do I ask this?” The last little bit was under his breath, but Kori still heard it. She was nothing if not observant.

“You can ask me anything, Trahearne, you know that.” He grimaced a bit upon learning that she’d heard that part.

“Easier said than done, my friend. I hate to ask it of you, but...” He stopped again, adjusting his eyepatch this time. She was seeing all of his nervous ticks today, wasn’t she?

“How about this: I’ll buy you dinner if you tell me. Your choice of what and where.” That got his attention. He glanced towards her in surprise before giving a resigned sigh.

“I’d...like for you to teach me about music.”

Oh. That was unexpected.

“Not too much, don’t worry! But I’d like to help preserve the music of Orr instead of just giving the task to someone else, if that makes sense.” He was scratching his neck again and refusing to make eye contact.

“I wasn’t expecting that, I’ll be honest. But I’d be happy to teach you a little bit. Do you want to try singing or instruments or both?” She was by no means unhappy at the thought of teaching Trahearne music. She’d no doubt get to learn about Orrian music and maybe even help further the study of Orr as a whole.

And spending some one on one time with Trahearne was a major bonus that she wasn’t about to say no to.

“Singing, please. The last time I touched an instrument it...well, how does Vesper say it? ‘It went to hell in a handbasket,’ I think?” Kori couldn’t help but giggle a bit at the thought of the tall sylvari trying to play the lute or another instrument and failing miserably.

“That’s definitely something she’d say. Alright, I think we need to go to Divinity’s Reach. The place where Vesper and I lived has a music room with all we should need, I think.” She grabbed her harp and her scarf and began out the doorway, tugging Trahearne along by the elbow as she went.

“Will that be alright? It’s not owned by someone else now, right?” 

“It’s my family’s home, so it’s fine. I may live here now, but I’m on great terms with my family, so it’s no big deal!”

“Alright, if you say so. It’s on you if anything goes wrong.” He seemed to resign himself to his fate of being taken to the human city and adjusted their arms so that Kori’s was looped around his.

“I’ll take any blame, don’t worry.” She said as she walked them to the waypoint in the guildhall. This would prove to be interesting if nothing else.

“You’re catching on quick, but you need to enunciate more when you sing. Repeat after me: tip of the teeth, tip of the tongue!”

“Tip of...what?”

“Trust me! Use the tip of your teeth and tongue to enunciate! Now repeat after me: tip of the teeth, tip of the tongue!”

“Tip of the teeth, tip of the tongue.”

“Again, with enthusiasm this time! Tip of the teeth, tip of the tongue!”

“Tip of the teeth, tip of the tongue!”

“Much better!”

Kori nodded in approval at Trahearne’s progress. The two had made it to Kori’s family’s home with no trouble, and, as the bard expected, the music room was perfectly intact and ready for practice. They’d been practicing for a few hours now, and Trahearne was steadily getting better with his voice. So far, Kori had taught him the bare basics of how to read music, how to control his volume and power, and a few other things. Obviously, he’d need much more practice to fully grasp any of it, but the progress that they’d made was nothing to sneeze at.

She saw him let out a sigh and hid a grin.

“It’s more intense than you thought it was going to be, isn’t it?” She tried to keep herself from smiling, but as he gave her a playful glare, she couldn’t resist letting out a giggle. “Don’t tell me the sylvari who cleansed Orr is having trouble learning how to sing?”

“Wha-? No!” Trahearne gave her an almost incredulous look, as if he couldn’t bear the thought of this giving him trouble. “It’s just-it’s true that it’s much harder than it looks. I wasn’t expecting _this_ level of difficulty.” He finally admitted, turning his gaze to the simple sheet music he was trying to sight-sing from.

“It’s very true that it’s much harder than most people think.” Kori turned her gaze to the piano in the room thoughtfully. “It takes real practice to sing the _correct_ way. Some people are blessed with naturally good voices and that really helps them, but it still takes a lot of time to learn how to do it properly.”

“I can tell that now. I’ve gained much more respect for you and Vesper now, and that’s saying a lot.” He took a moment to stretch the way Kori had taught him to loosen himself up. “By the Pale Mother, I can’t see how you both do it and make it look so effortless. My neck is killing me…”

“That's because of your posture. You’re bending your neck when you shouldn’t be. Your shoulders and torso also aren’t right. Here, let me show you.” She walked over to where he stood to show him how to adjust his stance. “Roll your shoulders back like this. Keep your neck straight, eyebrows up, and knees slightly bent.” The bard instructed, showing him the right way to stand and such.

“Good heavens, that’s a lot to keep track of.” Trahearne gave an exasperated sigh, trying his best to follow her example, but it was clear he was still having a bit of trouble. He kept bending his neck to look at the music and his knees alternated between being bent and unbent.

“It’s only four things, you’ll get the hang of it. Let me help you a bit; your posture still isn’t quite right.” She moved behind him, placing her hands on his back to straighten him out. She moved his shoulders and arms until she was satisfied, and began to move away before something caught her attention.

His left arm, which had been injured something terrible by Mordremoth, had healed immensely. He had the sleeves rolled up, leaving his arms exposed enough for her to see that much of the blight left behind had healed. She couldn’t help but smile softly; she’d been worried about that for so long, and to see his scars fade was heartening. She was glad.

“Kori? Is everything alright?” She was jolted out of her thoughts by Trahearne’s simple question. Apparently, her thoughts took longer than she thought they had.

“Oh, uh, yeah. Sorry.” She went back around to face him. “I just-I noticed your scars, is all. Or what’s left of them, anyway. They’ve healed quite a bit.”

“Oh, uh, I see.” He turned to look at his arm, rolling up the sleeve a little further to see. “You’re right. It’s been a very long time since I’ve looked this well. I wonder…” He began, before trailing off in thought.

“You wonder what?” Her curiosity got the better of her. She wanted to know what was on his mind.

“I wonder...what my back looks like. It’s hard for me to see it after all.” He turned back to Kori. “Would it...would it be inappropriate for me to ask you to look? I’d...I’d like to know if it’s gotten better, as well.”

Kori couldn’t help but blush a bit, and she hoped to the Five that he didn’t notice.

“Oh uh, sure. I don’t mind.” She walked behind him again, ready to inspect his old injuries. “You lift your shirt; I’d feel weird doing that part.”

“Sure thing.” He lifted the back of his shirt over his shoulders, pulling it around his arms and baring his back to Kori.

The scars upon his back had also faded, incredibly so. While she still saw traces of the dead foliage and blight that had been left behind by Mordremoth, his back was much more green than it used to be. He looked more...alive. She ran a finger over the scars, noticing how they’d also gotten more shallow. They used to be so deep, almost to his bone, but now they were barely an indent in the surface.

His silence was broken by a small giggle, which Kori wasn’t expecting. That seemed to be a running theme today.

“What was that noise?” She looked at him questioningly, before the realization dawned on her. “Oh, that’s right! You’re ticklish, aren’t you?” 

“Don’t you dare…”

“Don’t worry, I won’t. Yet.” He glared at her from over his shoulder, causing her to laugh this time.

“I will crack you like a glowstick, or worse, tickle you back. And last I checked I’m stronger than you.” He broke into a smile when he saw her brief look of horror. “Anyway, how does it look?”

“Much better, same as your arm. There are still scars, but they’ve faded a good bit.” She stepped away to let him pull his shirt back on and walked back in front of him. “You’ve gotten better. I’m glad.” 

“I’m glad too. You know, a lot of this was possible because of you.” She nearly began to protest, but he held up a hand to stop her so he could continue. “Those first few months, I wouldn’t have gotten out of bed if not for you. Thank you, Kori, from the bottom of my heart, for both your support in my recovery and taking the time to help me with my studies.” He bowed before her, sincerity in his gaze and his cheeks colored violet. It took Kori a moment to get her composure afterward; she wasn’t expecting such a sincere declaration from him.

“I-uh, of course! You know that, er, you know that I’d do anything for you, Trahearne.” She shook her head to rid herself of the butterflies flitting about. “Sorry, I wasn’t expecting that. But I’m thankful nonetheless. Speaking of your studies, should we get back to it? You still need to work on your posture.” He groaned at the thought, sending Kori back into giggles. 

“You’re going to kill me doing this, you know that right? I may be healed, but I’m still fragile, I swear!”

“I’m sure you are, but good posture won’t kill you. C’mon, I’ll help! Let’s get to it, you’re doing great!”

“I’m beginning to regret my decisions.”

“So this is it? I’ll be honest, I wasn’t expecting...this. I thought you had scrolls and books to decipher?” Kori gestured to the large stone carving in front of them.

“This is it, and I did! But it seems like many of those are already in the possession of the Priory, and they’re working on it. You can see why I wanted a professional musician here to help, and I know of none better than you.”

“I think that’s an overstatement, but I’ll see what I can do.”

“With what you’ve taught me, what you know about music, and what I know about Orr, I’m sure we can figure this out.”

“Damn straight.”

The two had made their way to Orr, one of the more restored areas, to tackle the main object that was giving Trahearne problems. Before them stood a mural left behind from the Orrian civilization: a beautiful, if heavily eroded, depiction of the nation in all of its glory. It had been restored by the Priory to the best of their abilities, and, while it certainly was not as glorious as it used to be, it was still a marvel to look at. At the bottom was a series of stone carvings, resembling the modern musical staff. Or they seemed to, at least.

“I’m certain this was music of some kind, but you can see why myself and the Priory have been having trouble with it.” Trahearne’s voice brought Kori out of her musings, though she continued to stare at the carvings. “We’re certain it’s music, but we’ve recently discovered that the Orrians used a different format to record their music. Which is where you and I come in; think we can figure it out?”

“We can certainly try!” Kori immediately stepped forward to examine the mural closer, running her hands over the worn stone. “This is fascinating...I’ve never seen music depicted like this. Hand me those books I brought along, Trahearne. They might be helpful here…” The rest of the world nearly faded away as Kori slipped away into her thoughts. The time seemed to fly by as she tried to decipher the carvings before her, Trahearne taking notes as she went. Could this symbol be this note? Could these marks depict the key that the song was in? It was incredibly complicated, but with the knowledge of music and Orr between the two, soon the carving began to unravel its secrets.

Even as she worked, Kori found it hard to keep herself from glancing at Trahearne. She knew she had feelings for the sylvari, but for some reason, it seemed amplified while they were working. She noticed how his brows knit together when he was thinking, and how sometimes only one was up when he was pondering something. If he was having a lot of trouble with a particular issue, he’d even stick his tongue out a bit, and his face would positively light up when he finally found a solution. Kori thought it was absolutely adorable, and had to turn away as quickly as possible to hide her red face.

If Kori had been paying attention to his expressions when she turned away, she would’ve noticed his other expressions. For instance, the look of fondness on his face while she was enthusiastically trying to figure out the music. Or the blush that graced his cheeks when he would notice her looking at him. She maybe would have found out all of the little things that he’d noticed about her. Like how she would mess with her scarf when she was deep in thought, or how she would adjust her glasses when something was really bothering her. And she’d certainly have noticed the longing glances he’d thrown her way.

Neither of them had a chance to make a move, however, as soon they were ready to see if they had been successful in their endeavors.

“Alright, let me see here. I think we may have it.” Kori said as she looked over the notes that she and Trahearne had taken. “With this, we should be able to figure it out.”

“I think you’re right. How do we go about it?”

“So, give me a bit and I think I can notate it. When I do that, you and I can figure out how it sounds. Remember how I taught you to sight-sing?” When Trahearne nodded, she continued. “Good. Brush up on it a bit while I write this down, and then we’ll figure it out together. It looks like there’s more than one part, so we’ll need to work together.”

Trahearne nodded, pulling out some sheet music to practice from while Kori wrote the music down while paying careful attention to the notes that the two had taken. Soon enough, the music was done and the two were beginning to learn the music itself.

“Alright, are you ready? We’ve got the key and our starting notes down?” Kori looked at the sylvari excitedly. Trahearne looked much less excited.

“Yes, I do, but are you sure _I_ can do this? I won’t be singing the same thing as you…” He looked at the music. His anxiety was understandable; they’d discovered that it wasn’t just a melody in the notation, but harmony as well.

“You’ll be fine! And if it’s not perfect, it’ll be fine. It’ll be great practice. Besides, I’m doing the harmony, and that’s the hardest part. You’ve got the easy bit!”

“Are you sure? I could try the hard part…” Trahearne was cut off abruptly as Kori grabbed his face with both of her hands to make her look at him.

“Listen, when Vesper and I sing together, I’m usually singing the melody and Vess is on harmony. I _want_ the harmony. Let me have this.” Trahearne nodded as best he could in her grip.

“Alright, as you wish. Let’s get started, then.” He took a deep breath to calm himself and removed Kori’s hands from his face, keeping a grip on one of them even after he’d let go of the other. It felt like his hand was shaking a bit; whether it was from nerves or anticipation, Kori couldn’t tell.

The two began working through the music, measure by measure. The music, unfortunately, proved to be more complicated than they imagined.

“Kori, what exactly is this supposed to mean?” Trahearne said, using his free hand to point at a specific point in the score.

“Hmm...looks like the sign to repeat the music. Actually, that makes this one line make more sense. I was wondering why it was sounding like that…” Kori handed him the music, as they were still holding hands for some reason, so she could point out what to do. “So what you do here is go back to either the beginning of the other repeat symbol and start from there. Then you go through the music like normal.”

“Ah, I see.” Her breath hitched as he squeezed her hand. “I can do that. Thank you. Shall we continue?” Kori nodded and they began to work through more of the score. After a bit more of sight-singing, there was another stumble.

“This...this doesn’t sound right. Why does it sound like this?” Trahearne gestured at the music again, pointing this time to the two notes he and Kori were singing. “The notes sound too close together.”

“Oh Gods, it’s dissonant. I know that’s how it’s supposed to be, but it’s hard for a new musician. So here’s how this works…” After a brief explanation and practice, the sylvari got it down, and they continued on.

Finally, the two reached the end of the music.

“Did...did we do it? Did we figure it out?” Trahearne whispered excitedly, squeezing Kori’s hand again, but this time it seemed like he didn’t even notice he was doing it.

“I think so. Something is bothering me though.” Trahearne looked at her with concern. “Nothing bad, I promise! I know we’ve got it right, but here’s the thing: I’m almost _certain_ I’ve heard this melody before. I just don’t know _where_ I’ve heard it and it’s bugging me.” She brought her free hand to her chin, searching her thoughts. Where was it from?

“I see. That is odd, this music is definitely Orrian in origin.” Trahearne looked back to the music, probably thinking of how this was possible. Before he could ponder it too much, he was interrupted by Kori’s joyous shout.

“I’ve got it!” Kori nearly dislodged their hands from her jump of joy. “I’ve heard it in older Krytan songs! It was never a focus within that music, but I know I’ve heard this melody within old traditional Krytan songs!”

“Oh really? That’s interesting. How in Tyria…” Trahearne was obviously confused by this. But Kori wasn’t deterred.

“Trahearne, is it possible that there were a least some human people who traveled from Orr to Kryta before Orr was sunken?” When he nodded, she continued. “What if those who hailed from Kryta incorporated this song into their music? Either as a remembrance for the Orrian citizens that had been killed in the calamity, or as maybe a way to honor the relations between the two human nations? It seems to have been a very prominent song if it was carved onto this mural.” She turned back to the sylvari to see him staring at her. She panicked a bit, unsure of why he was looking at her like that. “I-I mean, obviously I’m not a Priory scholar, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but-”

She was cut off as Trahearne grabbed her and swept her off of her feet, spinning her around joyously.

“Kori, you amazing woman, you’ve given us a lead!” Kori was taken by complete surprise, and she wrapped her arms around his neck to make sure he didn’t accidentally toss her away. “Priory scholar or not, it’s incredible! The Priory told me they’ve been having trouble with this for weeks, and here you come and give us the best possible idea, you wonderful lady!” He didn’t stop spinning her around for a few more seconds, and even after he did stop he still held her above the ground, burying his face in her neck.

“I’m glad I helped, but please remember that I’m afraid of heights-” She was cut off from her teasing statement as Trahearne faced her and slammed his lips against hers. He seemed to realize what he’d done, however, and pulled away as quickly as he’d kissed her, cheeks colored brilliant violet.

“Oh by the Pale Mother. Kori, I-I’m so sorry, I have no idea what came over me. I was just so excited-” It was his turn to get cut off as Kori grabbed his face with both of her hands and kissed him again, shutting him up rather effectively. Neither pulled away this time, taking in the moment as they stood there. Kori was in his arms a few inches off the ground, and he was holding her like she was his anchor.

The two parted softly before finally making eye contact, faces blushing heavily.

“Can I, uh, assume you were alright with that, then?” Trahearne spoke softly, voice barely above a whisper.

“You can, because I am.” Kori spoke with a bit more confidence now. “In fact, if I’m being honest, you can do that as many times as you want and I’d be alright with it.” It felt like a weight off of her chest to finally tell him that. Years worth of yearning to tell him, and she’d finally done it.

“Oh really?” He chuckled softly. “Well, I’d be happy to do it anytime you wish. And speaking of, you still owe me dinner, if you’d like to stay with me a bit longer…?” He tilted his head in invitation. Kori would have blushed even harder if that was possible.

“I’d like that. I’d like that a lot, Trahearne.”

“Good. I’m glad.” He brought their lips together one more time, before setting her down and starting on their way out of Orr.


End file.
